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MARK 7:5 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Mark 7:4Mark 7:6
“Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?”
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus: why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands? — the question is directed at Jesus, holding him responsible for his disciples' practice. Why don't your disciples... positions this as a question of discipleship formation: what is Jesus teaching them? The tradition of the elders is elevated as the standard against which the disciples' behavior is measured. The question implies that a genuine teacher of Israel would enforce the traditional purity practices on his followers.

Church Fathers on Mark 7:5

The people of the land of Gennesareth, who seemed to be unlearned men, not only come themselves, but also bring their sick to the Lord, that they may but succeed in touching the hem of His garment. But the Pharisees and Scribes, who ought to have been the teachers of the people, run together to the Lord, not to seek for healing, but to move captious questions.

Bede · 8th century · in Marc., 2, 29

For the disciples of the Lord, who were taught only the practice of virtue, used to eat in a simple way, without washing their hands; but the Pharisees, wishing to find an occasion of blame against them, took it up; they did not indeed blame them as transgressors of the law, but for transgressing the traditions of the elders.

Theophylact · 11th century

Wonderful is the folly of the Pharisees and Scribes; they accuse the Son of God, because He keeps not the traditions and precepts of men. But 'common' is here put for unclean; for the people of the Jews, boasting that they were the portion of God, called those meats common, which all made use of.

Jerome · 4th century · Hier. in Matt., 15
Read all 10 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Mark 7:5 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy